Author Archives: gaazkam

How does validating the PGP signature of a downloaded executable against the publisher’s public key show that the binary has not been tampered with?

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Websites that host downloadable executables often provide measures to confirm the integrity of the data that is available to download. Such measures include:

Hosting the website under HTTPS;
Providing the SHA-256 sum of the downloaded bin… Continue reading How does validating the PGP signature of a downloaded executable against the publisher’s public key show that the binary has not been tampered with?→

Do corporate systems need to be updated immediately after updates are available? [duplicate]

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I lived under impression that timely updates were very important. Even a home user wouldn’t like their computer to demand ransom for their data. However, the less home and the more corporate our setting is, security only becomes more, not … Continue reading Do corporate systems need to be updated immediately after updates are available? [duplicate]→

What is the risk of compromise of an old, Internet-capable phone not used for browsing? (not smartphone)

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I’m talking about a class of old mobile phones that are not smartphones but are still (theoretically) Internet-capable, at least via 3G. Examples of such phones include Series 40 Nokia phones or the
Samsung phone featured in Spectre (OK th… Continue reading What is the risk of compromise of an old, Internet-capable phone not used for browsing? (not smartphone)→

How to explain to traditional people why they should upgrade their old Windows XP device?

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This is an issue I’m recurringly facing: older people from my family (or people who my family members know) can be surprisingly reluctant to apply most basic security measures when they’re using their PCs. The particular issu… Continue reading How to explain to traditional people why they should upgrade their old Windows XP device?→

How secure is connecting to the Internet via Windows XP (or even older) nowadays only for e-mail?

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While trying (and failing) to convice a certain older person who wanted me to “fix” their ~20 years old PC that they should not be connecting to the Internet with whatever version of Windows they have installed (they couldn’t… Continue reading How secure is connecting to the Internet via Windows XP (or even older) nowadays only for e-mail?→

How strong is a password consisting of words arbitrarily chosen form the dictionary?

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Diceware wants us to actually randomly pick n words from a given set of m=65 words.

Assume a user does not actually use a dice. Instead they take a physical dictionary of m words and “randomly” picks n words.

Can it be some… Continue reading How strong is a password consisting of words arbitrarily chosen form the dictionary?→